Kiwi Barometer

Not to be out done by our South African members hereâ€™s the Kiwiâ€™s point of view on just who we think is our current top 15 based on round 4. Just a quick note to the politicly correct â€“ if youâ€™re playing for a Kiwi franchise then youâ€™re a â€˜kiwiâ€™, letâ€™s keep this simpleâ€¦

For mineâ€¦

15. Scott Hamilton (Crusaders), 2 tries â€“ good finishing
14. Lelia Masaga (Chiefs) 2 tries on attack and good work load in defence
13. Casey Laulala (Crusaders) Keeps on improving every gameâ€¦
12. Rua Tipoki (Crusaders) some good line breaks and pretty handy on defence
11. Rudi Wulf (Blues), like Masaga good attack and good defence (2 tries as well)
10. Stephen Brett (Crusaders) â€“ No Carter and this guy has really stepped up to the mark (just edged Nacewa)
9. Jimmy Cowan (Crusaders) â€“ looks a lot better out of SA and good weekend on defence
8. Thomas Waldrom (Hurricanes) â€“ not a personal favourite but a big effort on attack and defence
7. Josh Blackie (Highlanders) â€“ very good defence this weekend, always looking for work
6. Steven Bates (Chiefs) - never gives up, solid.
5. Troy Flavell (Blues) â€“ good line breaks
4. Paul Tito (Hurricanes) â€“ Good defence, acting more and more like a lose forward
3. Ben Franks (Crusaders) â€“ who the hell is Ben Franks? Weâ€™ll I havenâ€™t heard too much about him but keep an eye out.
2. Corey Flynn (Crusaders) â€“ Just solid
1. Clarke Dermody (Highlanders) â€“ Just as solid.

Itâ€™s not the prettiest line up but for individual efforts in round 4â€¦ thatâ€™s how it looks to me.

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players who have stuck there hands up to me...flavell,mccalistair,gear(like we need more wingers but hes been in fantastic form..makes you wonder who rico gear is?)...i think the ab coaches will be looking close at midfielders..i have a feeling that toeava will be among henrys favorites too watch

15 Hamilton
14 David Smith (I know he's an 11 but I reckon he'd be just as good at 14)
13 Toeava (mature performance, didn't throw the 50 50s he sometimes does)
12 McAlister (Beautiful passing, running and kicking, an all arond performance)
11 Tuitavake (Just edges out Masaga but has been consistently dangerous and showed signs of the same against the reds before being injured)
10 Nacewa (more than consistency Isa brings constant intensity to the 10)
9 Mathewson (Good players still shine amongst an average team performance)
8 Waldrom (ditto)
7 Braid (everywhere on the field and always working hard)
6 Andrews (Made the hurricanes lineout more than average for once and is always reliable)
5 Flavell (Same as Dumbo said)
4 Filipo (I reckon Filipo is underrated in the lineouts and is an effective ball carrier)
3 Afoa (Ok in the scrums and very good in the loose)
2 Flynn (Flynn looked good in a dominant crusaders effort)
1 John Schwalger (Strong ball carrying and decent scrumming effort)

Smells like kinda Blue... still can't argue with the line up.
ONE thing though... Hamilton, last year I reckon he was one of the most abused players on the forum (OK outside of Shane Williams for Wales, but in this Hemisphere). This year he's looking pretty good... good try tally so far and his positional play is getting better.

Who's got the goods on David Smith? age, where's he from and where's he going? also he doesnâ€™t look to big... looks like he's got a lot of pace though. Any info appreciated.

Got to agree with you about Toeava, he was stuff all from scoring two tries last weekend... he's just getting better and better (last yearâ€™s international season where he had issues catching a ball at critical moments is almost forgotten). Big talent, fingers crossed he gets to mature in the 13 jersey.

The only player based on round 4 that I wouldn't put forth would be Braid, Blackies performance against the Stormers was just exceptional, he made something like 11 tackles and 4 lineout wins.

Other than that... I really thought that having 22 quality players sitting on the collective bums, soaking up the rays, drinking those multi coloured drinks with the little umbrellas, discussing future lucrative offshore contracts would really put New Zealand Rugby in a seriously compromised position.

How wrong was I?

We all know that players like Toeava, McAlister, Nacewa, Flavell, Afoa and Flynn are all a class act, but for mine the other players listed here really do deserve a pat on the back. Good on them for stepping up.

David was one of the discoveries of the 2006 Air New Zealand Cup campaign scoring six tries for Auckland after making his provincial debut with a superb solo effort against the Fiji Warriors. The Samoan speedster first sprang to prominence when he made the Auckland Sevens team while still on a scholarship to Mt Albert Grammar School and has not looked back since.

Pretty similar interms of playing style and stature to former Manu Samoa/Crusaders winger Afato So'oalo.

I must add that i have seen limited games, and the games i have seen i have been watching the game more than the players. i know i have tried to be objectional, but its hard when i only have a red eye and a black eye. still trying counts right?

Gotta disagree on Davison and Ralph, Davison is a penalty magnet and is only an average scrummager though he will on occassion make a break and go for a run. As for Ralph, well what can I say, if you want an oh so average winger who never gets injured and can run reasonably fast in a straight line, then I guess he's your man. But Ralph is missing the most important thing all the other wingers who have been mentioned possess, the ability to "create" something from nothing. All he does is finish off lots of awesome crusaders backline moves, i.e. the space is created for him.
The rest of your picks are pretty handy and are really a matter of preference.

lol..im a mags boy too...infact same year as david smith thats why i have been rantin on and on bowt him becoz i knew him..a deeper look at em...mr.kingston,our schools rugby manager went on a trip over to samoa to 'scout' some players for our highschool...the previous year he scouted from samoa lupe(forgot his lastname) and another dude who went on to play for samoa 7s team...on our final year at school we have the annual "old boys" day...a day where previous students come back to play our representitive sports team..the main fixture being the 1st 15 vs the old boys 15...

apart of that old boys 15 was thomas leuluai from the super league and steven matai of the sea eagles(nrl)..heres a fact..david smith had a 50metre break on the sideline..running at fullspeed steve matai recoved on an angle from midfield to catch him...it shows you the capability of matai but also tells you smith isnt that fast

whats makes him unique is the elusiveness and strength..added to his stocky small stature and you have a player like "matt utai" with a lesser extent of agility and more speed

smith is a well balanced players..well balanced players to an extreme are hard to come by and thats what makes him a great prospect for the future

Still good work Ickon, think what you've put across is the 'final' solution... we will be posting this every week and it's more based on the current round's performers with a bit of recap towards the end (which sounds like after round 8 when the BIG boys get back).

For mine I'll say this time and time again - am most impressed with the level od NZ Rugby, like Chiro has said in earlier post - the NPC has shown that there's a hell of a lot of class out there

Depends, Howlett and Gear will be both 30+ or close enough in 2009 and will start to wear down/look for the big cash cow overseas, and at the moment, he's the best outside of the "Big 4", so he will get significant playing time, probably more than he would at Samoa due to the size of schedule.